


maybe we found love right where we are

by nouiiam



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Musician Harry, Time Travel AU, ashton does not, based on that movie about time, but niall stops being a dick eventually, harry has a crush on nick for like 2 seconds, niall's kind of a dick, so is ashton, they dont actually date please dont let that scare you away
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-05
Updated: 2014-06-05
Packaged: 2018-02-03 11:12:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1742693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nouiiam/pseuds/nouiiam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Harry turns 21, he learns he has the ability to time travel. When Harry turns 21, he learns that what he really wants in life is to fall in love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	maybe we found love right where we are

**Author's Note:**

> hiiiii, i finally finished this after a lot of procrastination and sypnosis reading. i watched the movie about time with my mom and i decided i needed to write a fic based off of it. so, i present a time travel au!!
> 
> un-beta'd, so all mistakes are mine:)

 

 

It's New Years Eve, Harry's alone, his best friend is an idiot and he's still not as drunk as he would like to be. Basically, it's a really shitty way to start the new year and Niall's the worst friend he's ever had. He's also the only one, but he won't get into that right now.

 

Harry's been dragged to his parents' New Year's Eve party and was abandoned by his best mate, Niall, as soon as they stepped foot into the flat. Niall always does this to him, he doesn't even know why he even invited Niall to come with him. He had wrongfully assumed that his best friend would keep him company, bu apparently that wasn't the case. Instead, he's listening to "Mr. Brightside" as he watches Niall, who is already drunk, stumble into one of the refreshments tables and knock down the drinks.He's been aimlessly walking around for about half an hour, attempting to mingle but hopelessly failing instead. Everyone knew someone, except for Harry, apparently, so he would just awkwardly stand around the drinks and wait for someone to come bye and say something. Except no one did. Which is bullshit when you think about it, because he saw his sister walk by a few times and even made eye contact, but even she ignored it. She was with some guy that Harry didn't really recognize. Amazing, really. A family party and he didn't even have anyone to talk to. Not even a date.He wouldn't say it was because he wasn't attractive. He was okay, he thought. Maybe a bit too tall and lanky, and yeah sure, his messy, curly hair was usually hidden under a headscarf and wasn't always kept up like most of the guys his age, but he had green eyes and dimples, so he liked to think that made up for it. His mum told him that, but like, she was his mum, so she was supposed to say those things. He loved her dearly, though, so he'll take that compliment regardless of who it came from.Harry doesn't really know how his family meets so many new people each year. His dad was a retired University Professor, but he usually stayed at home now and read for the most part, sometimes played table tennis when Harry went to visit for the hols. His mum stayed at home all day, usually baking or cooking, possibly chatting away with the friends she somehow makes without leaving the house. His sister, Gemma, practically knew everyone in town, not that Holmes Chapel was very big, but still. He doesn't see how the rest of his family is so social, but here he his struggling to find someone and hold a decent conversation.The countdown is starting in five minutes and Harry can see the couples watching the clock, waiting for the clock to strike twelve so they could kiss into the new year. He glances around again, seeing a blonde girl standing by the door on her own. He should go up to her, start a conversation, maybe kiss her once the clock strikes midnight. He could do it this once, start the New Year off right. A change of ways, for once. Three minutes until the countdown, it's now or never.He walks over to her, giving a small wave and a smile when she meets his eyes. She returns it quickly, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear and crossing her arms. Harry shoves his hands in his pocket and sighs, staring at the clock on the wall and watching as it struck to the last minute before midnight."M'Harry," He greets. She looks back at him again, giving him a flirty smile. He takes that as a good sign, so far."Alice." Her voice is confident and Harry is sure she was waiting for someone's to finally approach her. He clears his throat, not too sure on what to say to her next. There's thirty seconds til midnight and Niall's nowhere to been seen. It's slowly getting louder than it was before, talking overpowering the cheesy pop music that was playing. He should be able to think of something to say, ask her about the party or something. This shoulder be easier than he's making it seem.There's only fifteen seconds now and things are still tense and awkward with the girl beside him. He doesn't know why he came here in the first place, he hadn't had any fun the entire night. Now there were only ten seconds until the new year and everyone was screaming except for him and the girl. He should've gotten drunk, maybe then he'd be having a better time.The countdown gets to five and he moves a little closer to her, as does she. It's at three and she's drumming her fingers against her arm when he finally says:"Alice," He says it fast, grabbing her attention at the last second, but he doesn't do anything as the crowd screams "Happy New Year!" and everyone kisses who was around them. Only Harry doesn't kiss Alice. He doesn't think " _fuck it, I'm twenty and single_ ", grab her and snog her right then. He just stares at her with his mouth slightly open, like he's waiting for words to come out and they never do. Like time is frozen.She looks at him, waiting for him to kiss her or do something, but he doesn't do anything. He just avoids eye contact with her and curses himself in his head. "Right." She mutters, nodding slowly, turning away from Harry and disappearing into the party.Happy fucking New Year.

* * *

 

Harry doesn't usually see his parents more than two or three times a month. Between school and work, he's just to busy to go down to Holmes Chapel and see them as much as he would like. He stays with them during winter break and during whatever other time he has off, just to make up for the days that he doesn't see them. Niall's family is in Ireland and he couldn't afford to fly out that year, so he went with Harry to see his family and that's how he invited Niall to that stupid party. He doesn't know how Niall knows everyone in practically every place they've gone to together. (It's not until the day after that Niall tells him he just went to impress Gemma)(he won't comment on that.)Niall ditches him to go to a pub the day after. He needs a new best friend.Him and his dad have this thing that they do every time Harry visits. They'll go to the backyard and kick around a football, Harry pretending he knows what he's doing and his dad pretending his son isn't rubbish at the sport. It's a team effort. If it ends up snowing, they'll go inside instead, going down to the basement and playing table tennis. Harry enjoys that one better, he always wins. He's thankful when it snowed that year.After an hour of playing table tennis (and Harry winning each of the games), they sit down, drink and talk, his dad telling Harry that he had something important to tell him."So Harry," He begins, standing in front of Harry with his hands in his pockets. "You're going to be twenty one soon and I think it's time I tell you what I've been wanting to tell you for years," He says and Harry nods, taking a quick swig of his beer and leaning back into the couch."For years now, men in our family have had the ability to...let's say, travel in time," He tells him. Harry blinks a couple of times. He's pretty sure his dad is on drugs. Like,  _no,_  he's not even joking, he is one hundred percent sure his dad is on some type of drug that makes him say the weirdest shit. Of all things,  _time travel_. His dad has completely lost his mind. This was insane."Time travel," He says after a few seconds of silence. His dad nods. "This is some strange joke you're pulling, dad.""No, it's not a joke--"Harry laughs out loud. He doesn't known if it's because he thinks its funny or because he's genuinely concerned for his father's health. He chooses the former, just for his own benefit."How's it done, then?" He'll humor him, for the moment. It won't hurt anyone if his dad thinks they can time travel, right? It's completely harmless."Right, so-" His dad starts and Harry can't believe he's gotten this far. He doesn't know how long his dad has been planning this, but wow, he had all of the details worked out and everything. "You go into a dark room, clench your fists and think of the exact time and place you want to travel to."It takes all of Harry's willpower not to call bullshit right then and there. This was all mental, honestly. Does his dad  _really_  think he'd believe something as ridiculous as time travel? It's fun to watch in movies and to imagine what you'd do if you could, sure, but it wasn't actually  _real_. How naive did his dad think he was? He was going to be twenty one, not twelve. He didn't buy into all of by his magic and fairytale shit anymore."What do I do with it?" He asks, but it's not because he's curious, no. It's because this is all hilarious and he wants to see how far his dad was planning to go with all of this."You can't go and kill Hitler, or shag Helen of Troy," His dad says. Harry snorts, shaking his head. Because the first thing he was thinking of was shagging Helen of Troy. "Think about it, Harry. If you could have anything, what would it be?""Money, of course," Harry says without a second thought. Isn't that the obvious answer?His dad shakes his head. "You great grandfather tried that. He had money, yes, but a lot of people hated him and wanted him dead." Right, so money was a no go."What did you do with it, then?" Harry asks, suddenly curious. This was all still stupid and ridiculous, but it was a bit more fascinating, he has to admit."Books," His dad answers. "Read almost every book you can imagine." And well, Harry can't exactly say that he's surprised.He sighs, standing up and shoving his hands in his pockets. "So, you just think of a place and time...""And you're there," His dad says, smiling. Harry clears his throat, nodding slowly and walking out of the basement and back up to his bedroom. Right then, find a dark place, clench your fists and think of the time and place you want to be. Stupid.He's definitely not going to try it. He definitely doesn't stand in front of his wardrobe before opening it and stepping inside. He  _definitely_  doesn't close his eyes and clench his fists, thinking of the New Year's Eve party from the night before. That would be ridiculous.

* * *

 

Someone's fucking with him. He knows it when he hears the faint sound of "Mr. Brightside" playing while he's in the wardrobe.He pushes open the doors, looking down and furrowing his eyebrows in confusion when he sees he's wearing the same clothes as last night. He had definitely changed between the party and then, so he's not sure how he's wearing them again. It must've been Niall, Niall's always being a dick to him. It wouldn't surprise him if this were just another one of his pranks, Niall having asked his dad to help convince him that this whole time travel thing was legit. Fucking Niall.He walks out into the main room, surprised when he sees it's packed with people, just as it was the night before. Was Niall really going this far with the prank? He's gotta say, Niall seemed pretty persistent this time. He bets he's gonna crash right into the refreshments table again, just as he did last night.Harry chuckles softly to himself, shaking his head and looking around. Sure enough, Niall's stumbling about, yelling Irish gibberish over the loud music and knocking himself into the table. This was amusing, really. Niall was such a dick."Niall!" Harry yells over the music, walking over to the refreshments and helping his friend up. Niall smiles goofily at him, patting his shoulder and pulling him into a hug. Harry sighs, pushing Niall away. "This is a pretty ace prank, bro," He says. Niall raises an eyebrow, pursing his lips."What prank?" He asks, confusion prominent in his voice. Harry rolls his eyes."The whole, time travel thing you came up with. You know, you got my dad to tell me?" Harry explains. Niall can't be so pissed drunk that he can't remember a prank, right? Like, Niall's a dumbass, but he's not that stupid.Harry blinks a couple of times when Niall just stares at him, not sure of how to grasp this. If this wasn't one of Niall stupid pranks than he had...shit, he had actually time traveled. No, he couldn't have? That wasn't- It wasn't possible, this wasn't Doctor Who or summat, this was real life and people didn't just time travel. But fuck, here he was at last night's party, his best friend baffled at the thought of this prank. So it couldn't be a prank, Niall wasn't that good at keeping secrets, especially if he was drunk. He'd usually crack and tell Harry what he was planning before he got around to actually go through with it.His train of thought is disrupted once the count down begins, reminding him of the girl he had met yesterday--or tonight, whatever. He looks towards the front door, finding the same girl, Alice, alone once again. This was it, he had the chance to change things and he was going to do it right this time.He walks up to her as the countdown begins, squeezing past all the drunken couples waiting to kiss each other at midnight. He wasn't going to fuck it up this time, he would kiss her and start the New Year the way he was meant to.He reaches her as soon as the countdown hits one, not giving her anytime to speak as he leans down and kisses her, taking her by surprise. He pulls away a minute after, smiling at her as she giggles."Hi," He says."Hi," She says back to him, grinning madly and going off to possibly tell one of her friends. He lets out a relieved sigh, watching as the party broke out into loud screams and cheering. He thinks he's finally figured out what he wanted to use this for.

* * *

  
"A relationship?" His dad asks, astonished. Harry had traveled back as soon as the party had ended, going straight to his dad and telling him what he wanted to use the time travel ability for. He had always had shit luck with girls, and guys, so maybe this time travel thing would actually help him some how. Give him what he needs to actually be in a relationship and maintain one.

 

"Yeah," Harry says, fumbling with his fingers. "I mean, that's good, yeah? Finding love, or whatever," He mumbles, shrugging his shoulders. It was stupid, probably. His dad was definitely going to tell him this was stupid. Who would use something like this to find a relationship? He could do anything he wanted with it and that's what he choses. He doesn't think, sometimes."Well," His dad starts, smiling a bit. "Sounds like a plan, to me," He says and Harry's relieved. He wasn't that stupid, then.

* * *

 

Winter fades into Spring, which quickly moves into summer and Harry's sister has invited one of her friends to stay with them for the next month. He would normally mind, but this friend was a guy named Nick and Harry thinks he's in love. Nick is tall and cute and he has a radio show in London, which was exactly where Harry was planning on moving when this school year began. He's funny, too, and has Harry laughing whenever they have a conversation. Harry's certain that Nick is the one.During the second week that Harry's there, Nick asks if he wants to join him, Niall and Gemma's boyfriend, Ashton (who happened to be the same boy from the party), for a game of footie. Harry knows he probably shouldn't, he'll end up making himself look like an idiot, but it's a two on two game and Niall's already teamed with Ashton, so fuck it. He'll do it if it helps him impress Nick. It couldn't possibly go wrong, he had been practicing and everything, so he has to have gotten.better.Except, he didn't and he regrets joining it after the game's finished and he's caused them to lose by kicking the ball into the wrong goal. He's proper embarrassed after that, ignoring Nick, quickly excusing himself and rushing back into the house. He goes upstairs, hiding himself in a closet and making himself travel back to the start of the day.It all goes the same up until the end of the game, Harry making sure he kicks the ball into the right goal and smiling when he scores the winning point. Nick grins at him, giving him a high five and praising how well he had done. He smiled back, hoping he's gotten tan enough within the past two weeks that his blushing is easily hidden.

* * *

 

It was Nick's last night there and Harry was going to tell him he was in love with him. He was certain, now, having spent a month with the lad. Nick was just perfect to him in everyway and he's sure that he was meant to be with him.He walks up to Nick's room after dinner, standing outside the closed door for what feels like a full five minutes before knocking lightly. Nick calls for him to come in and Harry opens the door slowly, finding Nick packing the last of his things. It hits him quickly that Nick was leaving the next day, almost hard enough to make his change his find and not tell him at all. But well, if things go wrong, he could just go back in time and pretend it never happened. God bless time travel."Hey, Harry," Nick greets, smiling at the younger boy. Harry returns the greeting, leaning against the door frame and crossing his arms. That made him seem cool, right? Totally not eager, or anything."Hey," He says. "Can I ask you something?"Nick stops packing, glancing at him with a chuckle. "It's not anything about love, right? Gem warned that you would ask."Harry's expression drops quickly, color drained from his face. Had he been that obvious? Was it really that easy to tell that he was in love with Nick? It couldn't have been, no. He had been careful about it the entire time Nick was there. Gemma was ruining everything for him. Sometimes his sister needed to stop talking about Harry and his feelings to people that Harry didn't want her to. Which was everyone. He wanted no one to know about how he felt about things and people until he's decided to tell them himself.Nick takes note of Harry's silence and his smiles falls quickly. "Harry," He starts, his voice sounding sympathetic. "I'm sorry. If you would've told me sooner, then maybe things would have been different--""Hold on," Harry interrupts, standing straight. "Sooner?" He asks.Nick nods. "Yeah, I mean, it would've given me more time to think about it--""Okay," Harry says, holding up a finger. "Hold that thought." He turns around, rushing back to his room and squeezing himself into his wardrobe, shutting his eyes and thinking about Nick's mid-visit. That should be plenty of time for Nick to think about it, surely. How much more time does he need than a couple of weeks? Harry's got it, this time. He was going to get the one thing that he really wanted.He pushes the doors open immediately, smiling when he sees he was in the same outfit he had worn weeks ago. Taking a deep breath, he makes his way to Nick's room, knocking on the door with a bit more confidence than he had done before. This was it, he would confess his love to Nick, they'll get together, Harry will move to London and they'll live happily ever after. Throw in marriage and a couple of kids and it was Harry's perfect life.He opens the door casually when tells him to come in, leaning against the door frame and crossing his arms just as he had done last time. That hadn't made anything worse before, he doesn't think. Might as well do it again. Nick is laying on his bed with his laptop this time, not seeming as distracted as he was the first time. This was good, then. A better response, he hopes."Hey, Nick," Harry says before Nick has a chance to say anything. "Can I ask you something?" His voice was much more confident than it had been before, him being prepared for a better response this time. He had to get a good answer from Nick this time, it was practically guaranteed."Go ahead, shoot," Nick says. Harry clears his throat, nodding."Right, so I was thinking," He starts. He wasn't actually sure what he was supposed to say right now. He hadn't really gotten this far last time and he hadn't been thinking about it. But well, it's too late to back out now so he should probably say  _something_  so that Nick doesn't think that he's a complete moron. "I like you." That's all the comes out.Nick raises an eyebrow, setting his laptop aside and sitting up straighter against the headboard. "That's kind of you, Harry. I like you, too--"Harry shakes his head. "No,I mean, I  _like_  you," He says again, emphasizing it. He doesn't know how else to explain it. He couldn't very well say love, could he? That might be a bit strange, he thinks. Only having known someone for two weeks, then saying that you're in love with them. It wasn't strange to him, sure, but not everyone thinks the same way as him, apparently."Oh," Nick says, which is followed by a few seconds of silence. "Tell you what, wait until my last night here and I'll tell you how I feel." That hadn't exactly been the answer Harry had been hoping for, but it was better than a no so he'll take it.

 

* * *

 

  
Nick's last day comes once again, and Harry finds himself standing outside with the rest of his family, watching Nick and Gemma pack their bags into the car and get ready to leave. Harry hadn't gotten any word from Nick yet on how he felt, so he was going to take that as a " _no, I'm not in love with you"._  It was sort of a depressing realization, knowing that even if he can time travel, he can't really make someone fall in love with him.

 

"It was nice meeting you, Harry," Nick says, pulling him into a hug as if he didn't just break Harry's heart into a million pieces. "Next time, yeah?" Right, next time."Yeah," Harry says, hiding the hurt in his tone as best as he could. This was stupid, he was stupid. He should've known Nick wouldn't reciprocate his feelings.Nick smiles as he pulls away, waving bye to Harry and everyone else before getting into the car with Gemma and leaving. Harry could go back in time and change everything, but he's sure that it still won't make Nick fall in love with him. So instead, he just stands outside and watches the car leaves, his hands shoved in his pocket and trying to ignore the broken feeling in his chest.

 

* * *

 

  
He moves to London after the summer is over, deciding to focus more on his music career. He doesn't use the time travel thing too often and he had somewhat gotten over Nick, having not thought about it much the week after Nick had left. Niall had teased him relentlessly after he told him, but whatever, Niall was a dick anyways. It's not like Niall was getting laid anymore than he was, so he could kindly fuck off.

 

His dad tells him that one of his old, best students, Zayn, lived in London, and had been willing to let Harry stay with him until he found a place of his own. Harry would rather not impose on someone else, but he's broke for now and has no other place to go, so it was that or nothing. He would try to get a job quickly, though, not wanting to bother Zayn too much.He gets to Zayn's at nine am on a Thursday, not having been one hundred percent sure on what time he was supposed to get there. He had taken the earlier train, wanting to get there sooner rather than later, to get the meeting process over with. That was probably the worst part about moving to London, was not knowing anyone and having to meet new people. It was hard to do that in big cities, he's learned from movies and tv shows. It would be even harder for him, seeing as he's not the best at conversations or anything of that nature. Who the fuck told him it would be a good idea to move to London?Harry sighs as he walks up the steps to Zayn's flat, standing outside the door for a minute to make sure he had the right one. After confirming he did, he knocked on the door, gripping the strap of his guitar case and staring down at his shoes. He stands for a couple of minutes with no response, then decides to knock again. This time he hears a "fuck" from the other side of the door and quick shuffling of feet before the door is opened, revealing who Harry assumes is Zayn. What the fuck, is Zayn even real? Probably not with those cheekbones, he isn't."Harry, yeah?" Zayn mutters and Harry nods as the other boy steps aside, welcoming Harry in. It's a decent flat, Harry takes note. Good enough for someone that's living on his own, anyways. Not that it matters, Harry won't be staying there for too long, hopefully. "M'Zayn. Would love to chat, but I'm in the middle of writing something," He says, not giving Harry any time to introduce himself. "Your room is down the hall, second door on the left." That's all he tells Harry before he retreats back to his room, shutting the door and leaving Harry to his own devices. So, Zayn doesn't talk much. Harry can live with that.

 

* * *

 

  
As it turns out, Zayn's actually a pretty great person when he's not in one of his writing moods. He offered to take Harry out his first week there, showing him all of the best pubs and clubs in London. Harry didn't really think he'd go to them very often, but then Zayn had taken him to one with an open mic night every weekend, and well, he couldn't resist. He even gets a job there, as well. It's not much, but it's something and he gets to sign up for open mikes sooner than others. It's worth it.

 

He meets one of Zayn's friends, Liam, during his third week there and they hit it off quickly. Not in a "I love you and want to marry you" kind of way, but in a "hey, let's be pals" sort of way. It works for the both of them, because Liam admits to having a thing for Zayn a couple of days after they meet and Harry's just not interested in him that way. He likes hanging out with Liam though, they almost become attached at the hip. Harry kind of thinks Liam's just around so he can use Harry to get even closer to Zayn, but he'd rather know someone than no one, so he won't complain.He also meets another artist named Ed, one that performs at the pub every Saturday evening and Harry maybe thinks he's in love. But not with Ed, no, more with Ed's lyrics. He likes how he can sort of relate to them, how they felt like he actually meant them instead of just signing them because they were something he wrote. Harry wants that, he wants to be someone like that. So like, he hangs out with Ed as much as possible and well, Ed is a pretty great guy, he's learned.Niall comes to visit a month into his stay, forcing him to go out to a restaurant that's pairing people up with blind dates. Harry doesn't see how this benefits him at all, him not being able to properly hold a conversation with new people for more than five minutes, but Niall takes him out anyways. Niall's an asshole, really. He should keep himself around people like Liam, Ed and Zayn. People that don't force him to go out just so they have a chance to find a girl to hook up with and maybe get drunk. That was all Niall's motives were practically all the time. Ridiculous, it was."Why am I here?" Harry complains once they enter the restaurant, crossing his arms and walking with Niall to podium. They get handed drinks as soon as they're guided inside, Niall smiling when he sees the large group of people already in the room. Harry goes over how bad of an idea this is in his head, downing his drink in one go and hoping maybe he'll get drunk enough to make it through the night."It'll be fun!" Niall exclaims, wrapping an arm around Harry's shoulder. "The lights go off in about thirty minutes and the waiters have night vision glasses so they can take you to a seat and everything. Pretty sick, huh?"Harry rolls his eyes, shaking his head and grabbing another glass of wine from on of the tables. He wasn't drunk enough for this, but then again, he wasn't ever drunk enough for Niall's stupid ideas. He only gets a couple of drinks down before the lights are shut off and hands are on his shoulders, leading him to a table and seating him. He's then being directed on where everything on the table is and how the rest for the night will work. He can barely hold a conversation when it's lit, how is he expected to do it in the dark?The waiter leaves after they're finished explaining, telling Harry and whoever was across from him to begin speaking. Harry bites his lip and stares across him in the darkness, waiting for the other person to say something."This is pretty fucking weird." It's a boy, Harry discovers. He smiles a bit, not that the other person can see him. He likes the boy's voice, it's a bit higher pitched, but delicate and has a strong Yorkshire accent. Zayn's from Yorkshire, so he's hoping this guy is as attractive as Zayn is. Maybe more, but like, we're talking about Zayn. "My friend Eleanor dragged me here, I wasn't allowed to say no."Harry chuckles, because yeah, that sounds like his and Niall's situation, too. "I know the feeling, mate." He answers, taking himself by surprise. The boy snorts."So they've actually gone and paired me up with a bloke, then? Fucking finally, last few times I've gone it was girl after girl. No thanks," The boy says. "I'm Louis, by the way.""Harry.""Nice to, erm, sorta meet you, Harry," Louis says. "So, tell me about yourself. Let's see if this thing's worth it tonight."Harry doesn't really know how it's happened, but he's ended up talking to Louis the entire night, the conversation simply flowing between them. He's found out that Louis's twenty three, turning twenty four on Christmas Eve. He's gone to school for Drama, having gone and become a drama teacher in London, but doing some acting every once in a while. He's got blue eyes and brown hair and is only a couple of inches shorter than Harry. He was born and raised in Doncaster and had five sisters and a brother, but he was the oldest of all of them.After two of their courses, it's announced that candles will be lit so the couples can see the other. Harry grins, but it soon falters as he thinks of what could go wrong. What if Louis decided that he wasn't attractive enough? Or wasn't his type at all? Things had gone well so far, the two of them kinda just clicked, but that could all go downhill as soon as the candles are lit. But oh well, he can't really do anything about it. So he'll face it. At least he'll get to see what Louis looks like.The candles are lit one by one, but it's finally illuminated enough that Harry can see Louis and  _wow._  He had assumed Louis was good-looking, but he's not sure that word gives him enough justice. He's got blue eyes, just like he had said, but they're bright and vibrant and he's got a smile that gives him crinkles by his eyes. His hair is a soft, chestnut brown, long, swept up and off to the side. Louis was beautiful and Harry was in love."Hm, a nice face to match the charm," Louis says and Harry mentally sighs in relief. "I like you. Do you have a phone with you, by any chance?" He asks. Harry nods, pulling his phone out of his pocket, unlocking it, and handing it to Louis. The older boy taps at the screen a few times and then hand it back, smiling. "Call me after this, yeah? Maybe go on a proper date or summat.""Sounds good, Louis," Harry says. He glances around the room quickly, seeing Niall with a brunette girl that seems completely uninterested. "That's my best mate over there," He says, pointing to Niall. "I should probably save him the embarrassment."Louis looks to where Harry's pointing, laughing when he sees what Harry means. "The girl he's with is Eleanor, my best friend. I wouldn't take it personally, she's hard to please.""Nah, Niall's just a terrible date," Harry says and Louis laughs again. He stands up, as does Louis, shoving his jacket back on. "It was nice meeting you, Louis.""Yeah, you too, Harry," Louis says with a grin. "See you soon?""Definitely," Harry replies, waving bye and going to rescue Niall from seeming like more of a knob than he already does.

* * *

 

  
Zayn's a mess when he gets back from his blind date. Which is saying something, because the entire time Harry's been there, Zayn has been nothing but calm and composed. So like, this is all new to him.

 

"They forgot their lines!" He exclaims as soon as Harry enters the flat. Harry furrows his eyebrows in confusion, shrugging off his jackets and hanging it on the coat hanger. "They completely fucked it up! The entire thing, ruined." "What?" Harry asks."My play, Harry," Zayn says, collapsing on the sofa and letting out a sigh. "One of the main actors forgot their lines and froze on stage. I  _told_  them to practice, but did they? No." Right right, one of Zayn's plays was being debuted tonight. Zayn had been going on about it for weeks, saying that they'd been practicing for a little over two months and he really thought it was coming together nicely. He was wrong, apparently. It doesn't seem to have come together at all.He slips off his shoes and sits down next to Zayn, allowing the older boy to complain to him about everything that's happened that night at his play. It takes a whopping forty five minutes, but Zayn finally finishes and retreats to his bedroom. Harry thinks for a minutes, watching Zayn's room door close before standing up and rushing to his room. He steps into his closet, closing the door and clenching his fists, thinking about earlier that day when Niall had forced him out.His eyes open shortly and he pushes open his closet door, stumbling out and looking around the room before his eyes set on his alarm clock. It's about five minutes before Niall shows up, giving him enough time to come up with a way to reject Niall's invitation and attend Zayn's play instead.He exits his room just as Niall knocks the on the door, being met with Zayn rushing around and trying to find everything he needs for that night. Harry chuckles to himself, opening the door and smiling halfheartedly at his best mate. "Look, mate--""C'mon, Haz. There's some blind date thing going on tonight and I wanna go. Come with me," Niall says, interrupting Harry."Can't," Harry says. "M'going to Zayn's show tonight."Zayn stops what he's doing, glancing over at Harry and cocking a brow. Harry looks back at him and shrugs before returning to Niall. The Irishman blinks a couple of times, then sighs. "Right then. Tomorrow, though?"Harry nods and Niall smiles, shouting a quick bye to Harry and Zayn before heading off. Harry closes the door and turns around to look at Zayn, who's still baffled by Harry's statement. "So, we going then?"

 

* * *

 

  
Zayn and Harry get to the theater with ten minutes before the show. Zayn rushes in, holding the door open for Harry, but the younger boy shakes his head and gestures for Zayn to continue.

 

"You go, I need to, um, go for a quick wee," Harry says, giving a small smile. Zayn nods, turning around and jogging off inside. Harry waits until Zayn is out of sight, entering and walking around slowly, in search of the actor's dressing rooms. He passes room after room, then finds one of the main actors sitting down and having a smoke. Harry crinkles his nose in disgust, then shakes his head and reminds himself why he's there."Are you one of the actors?" He asks, gaining the man's attention. The man shoots him a glaring, coughing from the smoke and nodding. "Right, you should really go over your lines, one last time?""Oi, fuck off," The guy says and Harry scurries off, but not before catching a glimpse of the guy opening his script. He smiles to himself, rushing to the mostly full auditorium and taking a seat towards the front next to Zayn. Liam's there, as well, on Zayn's other side and having a conversation with him about the play. Harry shakes his head and leans back in his seat, watching as the light dimmed and the curtains were drawn open. The talking hushed into a few silent whispers, but for the most part, it was silent all until the actors came onto stage. Harry recognizes one of them as the one he told to read over his lines and grins, hoping that it'll go smoothly.Over halfway into the show, all of the actors have said their lines without missing a beat and Harry's grateful. He glances over at Zayn every few minutes, the older boy's face showing nothing but concentration, but Harry's sure he'll be getting an ear full once the show is over.There's one last scene left, Zayn's told him, and no one's forgotten their lines yet. Harry let's out a sigh of relief as the actor he spoke to delivers his lines perfectly and the audience claps at the end of his paragraph. That takes care of that.Except, there's another actor that steps up to speak, saying the first few lines and then freezing, his expression turning to worry. Harry's eyes widen, looking to Zayn who's gripping the arm rest and clenching his jaw. Shit shit shit, he had spoken to the wrong actor. Things had been going so well, too, only about ten more minutes left of the show.Harry turns to Zayn, excusing himself before standing and making his way out of the auditorium and to one of the cleaning closets. He shuts the door behind him, closing his eyes and thinking of forty five minutes before the actor forgot his line. After a few seconds, he opens his eyes again, stepping out and running to where he assumes is the prop room, grabbing cardboard and searching for a marker. It takes a few minutes and a couple room searches, but he finds a black one and goes back to the dressing room where he had found the first actor.Grabbing the script on the table, he quickly writes the other actor's forgotten lines on the cardboard, finishing in a quick twenty minutes and racing to the backstage area. He makes it as soon as the actor begins speaking his lines, clearing his throat when he stops speaking and holding the cardboard up to remind him of his lines. The actors reads them off confidently, resuming his soliloquy and earning a standing ovation when he's finished. Harry lets out a deep breath, giving the actor a thumbs up and rushing back to his seat before Zayn got too suspicious of where he was."It all went well, yeah?" Zayn asks as soon as Harry's back and the play is over. Harry nods quickly, gently shoving Zayn and Liam out to avoid any questions about where he had gone. "I thought one of them would forget their lines, or summat, but they got them, thankfully," Zayn continues as they walk out. Harry grins, patting Zayn's shoulder and pretending to listen as Zayn goes on about the show to both him and Liam. Zayn was happy, it was worth missing the blind date and not meeting Louis--oh fuck, Louis."Hey, great job on the show, bro," Harry says to Zayn. "I have to go do something, though. I'll see you later!" He gives Zayn another clap on the back before opening the maps on his phone and letting out a relieved breath when he sees he's only about ten minutes away from the restaurant Niall had taken him. He could probably make it there in five minutes if he ran, which he was planning to. He should've thought this over better than he had.He gets there five minutes before the blind date event ends, walking up to one of the waitresses and asking if there was been a Louis there. She checks her clipboard, going through the list and smiling up at him."Louis Tomlinson and Eleanor Calder, left about five minutes ago," She tells him. He sighs. Five minutes ago, great. He's completely blown it with Louis. Well, wait, unless...He takes his phone out of his pocket, going through his contacts and searching for Louis's number. He groans when he sees it's not there, as if it never existed. Which technically, it hadn't, but he had hoped there would be the slight chance that he would still have his number."Is there a way you could tell me anything else about him?" He asks desperately, ignoring the strange looks he received from her when he asked.She looks down again, then shakes her head. "I'm sorry, no. They paid in cash." She says, then walks off before Harry could ask her anything else. He runs a hand through his hair, trying to think of how to find Louis again. He could always travel back, but then Zayn's play would go all wrong and that was the whole point of going back in the first place. If he were to go back and leave the play early, he wouldn't be able to hold up the boards for the actor that forgets his lines. Why the hell was time travel so complicated?

* * *

 

  
"Harry, mate, come look at this!" Zayn says the next morning when Harry emerges from his room, pointing to something on his screen. Harry wanders over, still partly asleep, and leans over. It's a review for Zayn's play, the critics saying how well it had been performed and what an amazing plot line it contained. "They loved it, bro!" Zayn exclaims, except Harry's distracted by an ad for David Beckham on the side of the screen. Harry remembers Louis going on about how much he loved football, and how David was probably--no, definitely--his favorite player and idol. He had told him that he planned on dragging Eleanor to a Beckham exhibit they had going on at a museum, as revenge for forcing him to come out with her that night. It was going on for two weeks and Harry didn't know the exact day Louis had planned on going, but he would find out. Even if he had to go everyday.

 

Which is exactly what he does, actually. He's pretty certain he has the entire exhibit memorized by now, having walked through it for the past two weeks, almost. There hadn't been any sign of Louis the last times he's gone, but today was the last day and he was hoping for better luck. Gemma had gone to visit after Niall left, too, going with him to the museum and helping him find Louis."H, this is ridiculous," She complains, glancing at another photo of David Beckham and letting out a sigh. "How many times have you come to this thing?""Fourteen times," He says without missing a beat, glancing around for Louis. He doesn't spot him and is about to give up, until he turns around and accidentally bumps into someone. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't--Louis?" He looks down at the shorter boy, who's fixing his hoodie. Louis looks up at him, seeming puzzled that Harry knows his name."I'm sorry, have we met before?" Louis asks, raising an eyebrow. Fuck, right, Louis hasn't met him."Um, no actually," Harry says, biting his lip. "I know your name is Louis, though," That was the wrong answer, as Louis nods slowly and backs away."Right, well then person who apparently knows my name, I need to go find my friend," Louis smiles weakly, turning around and walking off somewhere.Harry sighs, mentally scolding himself for screwing up things with Louis. That had been his one chance and he blew, all because he didn't know how to control what came out of his mouth."Was that him, then?" Gemma asks, leaning an elbow on Harry's shoulder and looking to where Louis was with his mate, Eleanor. "He's cute, H," She says, nodding in approval. "Go over there," She gives him a slight shove and he stumbles forward, stopping himself and facing Gemma. "Go!""He thinks I'm a creep!" Harry exclaims, but Gemma shoos him off and he groans, shaking his head and walking back up to Louis. Okay, he did well enough with Louis before, maybe he could do it again. Just talk to him naturally or something, like he had done previously. Louis was easy to talk to."Hey," He says quietly, grabbing Louis's attention. Louis stops his conversation with Eleanor, turning around and looking at Harry. "Look, I'm sorry about earlier. I," He stops for a minute, quickly trying to think of an excuse. "Heard your friend call you by your name earlier and I get really nervous around attractive people--"Louis laughs, shaking his head and smiling. "You're cute," He says. "Well, as you seem to know, I'm Louis and this is my best friend, Eleanor." Eleanor grins and waves at Harry, giving Louis a look before going off to look around. "You are?""Harry," He says. "My sister Gemma is back there." He points behind him to where Gemma is talking to Eleanor, both girls glancing and smiling at the two boys every so often. "Are you doing anything after this? My sister has to leave and it's quite boring here by myself.""If that's a chat up line, I'm sorry to tell you, but I've got a boyfriend," Louis says, his tone teasing but an ounce of serious is laced with it. Harry freezes furrowing his eyebrows and re-thinking everything. Louis had a boyfriend, how did Louis have a boyfriend? He didn't have a boyfriend two weeks ago at the blind date event, he would know. Louis wouldn't have been there if he had a boyfriend, right? He was the one that had put his phone number in Harry's phone, so basically, there was no way he had a boyfriend.

"I'm sorry, what?" Harry spits out and he thinks it sounds much more harsh than he intended, because Louis looks back at him with an offended expression and crosses his arms. "Wait, I didn't--" He tries, but Louis quickly cuts him off.

 

"What, do you think I'm not the type to have a boyfriend?""No!" Harry exclaims, immediately trying to take back what he had said. "It's just, I would think you'd have really high standards and..." He babbles on, not entirely sure of what he was saying. He doesn't understand why he's so nervous now, it had all been smooth sailing when he was on the blind date with Louis. But now he's saying stupid things and Louis apparently has a boyfriend, how is he even supposed to fix something like this? It's not like he can just go back in time to make it that Louis and whoever his boyfriend was hadn't met. Wait.He clears his throat, letting out a breath and smiling as charmingly as he can at Louis. "Tell me about him. How you met, the exact time, address...""That's oddly specific," Louis says, but Harry waves it off."I'm an envisioner, I like to envision things," Harry says, still smiling. Louis purses his lips, but nods anyways and begins telling the story of how him and his boyfriend, Stan, had met. They had only been together a week and a half, having met at Eleanor's party the day after the blind date event. The stupid fucking blind date event had been the cause of everything. He just had to go and be a decent person, ruining his happiness and helping Zayn gain his. "I'll be right back, bathroom," He runs off before Louis has the chance to say anything, locking himself in the bathroom and shutting off the lights.He lets out a breath when no one says anything, which he actually should've checked if anyone was in there before he shut the lights off, closing his eyes and squeezing his hands shut. He thinks back to the night of the party Louis attended, opening his eyes a full minute after and leaving the bathroom to head back to Zayn's and get ready for the party. He had about an hour and a half before Louis's boyfriend was to arrive, giving him that long to get ready. It shouldn't take him that long, hopefully. Maybe only a half an hour or so.Zayn doesn't question him when he walks into the flat without speaking to the older boy on the sofa. Harry rushes past him, locking himself in his room for a full half an hour before emerging dressed in his darkest skinny jeans, a red, plaid, button up, his wild and unruly curls being kept underneath his royal blue headscarf. Seems casual enough for a party, right? Especially a London one. As if it'd matter, really. Louis didn't seem like one to go with dressing fancy or anything like that, so he's sure he's fine for the night."Looking good, H. Where you off to?" Zayn asks before Harry can leave. Harry stops in his tracks, turning to Zayn and smiling."Party," He answers, turning back towards the door and preparing to walk out."You? Who could have possibly invited you?" Zayn teases and Harry scoffs, rolling his eyes and flipping off Zayn."I could know plenty of people, Zayn," He says, crossing his arms and glancing to the door. "Can I leave, now, fairy godmother? Do I need to be back by midnight?"Zayn rolls his eyes, waving Harry off and focusing his attention back on his laptop. Harry sticks his tongue out at the back of Zayn's head, then reminds himself of what he was doing and heads out of the flat in a rush.

 

* * *

 

  
It's crowded, once he gets to the party. He doesn't exactly do well with crowded. He manages, though, snaking through the crowd in search of Louis. It takes him a while to find him, bumping into Eleanor at first, who was too drunk to realize that she didn't actually know Harry.

 

"Do I know you?" She asks, raising an eyebrow. He coughs, shrugging. She didn't now, sure, but she had in the future. if that were to make sense."I'm a friend of Louis's," He says and okay, it's not a complete lie. He should be a friend of Louis's if only Zayn's play hadn't gone horribly and Louis didn't go and get a boyfriend. Actually, he should be more than a friend at this point, if he's being completely honest.Eleanor buys it, though, smiling widely and clapping him on the shoulder. "Oh, well then! He's over on the balcony! Been out there the entire time," She exclaims, giving hims a small shove in that direction and a suggestive smirk. Harry clears his throat, nodding and smiling sheepishly before making his way towards where Eleanor had said Louis was.He was out on the balcony alone, leaning over the railing and having a smoke. Harry open the glass door, joining the older lad and taking him by surprise. Louis's eyes flicker over to him quickly, blinking a couple of times and smiling softly. "Hi," He says."Hey," Harry responds. This is it, this was going to be his third impression and he needed to make the most of it. "M'Harry. You are?""Louis," He answers. "Why you out here, then? The party's inside," He jokes, taking a drag of his cigarette and exhaling the smoke away from Harry."I could be asking you the same question," Harry says, shrugging. "You looked lonely."Louis purses his lips. "Did I? How do you know I didn't just come out for a smoke, then?""Bumped into your friend, Eleanor," Harry says and Louis just scoffs and rolls his eyes."Course you did," He mumbles. "She's always trying to set me up." Harry starts to wonder if that's how him and his boyfriend (ex-boyfriend?) got together, then. If Eleanor had introduced them, maybe. It was a possibility. "I think I might like you, though."Harry leans against the railing and grins. "Do you?" He asks and this is what he's wanted. For him to make the right first impression on Louis, to actually have a chance with him. Louis nods, smiling. "Enough to leave the party with me?"Louis raises an eyebrow and Harry realizes how suggestive his sentence had sounded. "No, I meant, to go out for dinner or summat," He tries to explain. He can feel a blush on his cheeks and he's pretty sure all of the progress he's made so far has been completely destroyed. He needed some type of filter for when he talked to Louis, maybe something to tell him not to say anything stupid. That'd be great, really. He can stop going back in time and get things right the first time for once."I know what you meant," Louis says, smiling. He drops his cigarette, putting it out with his shoe and looking back up at Harry. "Well, are we going to head out?" He asks, grabbing Harry's hand and leading him out of the balcony and out of Eleanor's flat. They're both laughing as they bump into people, accidentally bumping into who should have been Louis's boyfriend when they're outside. He yells at them quite rudely to watch where they're going and Harry laughs even harder, tightening his grip in Louis's hand and mentally cheering himself on.He pulls the both of them into a diner not too far from Louis's flat, the both of them laughing at a stupid joke Harry had told when they walk in. It's almost deserted, most people having better things to do on a Saturday Night than be at a diner. Harry likes it better that way, to be honest, and he's sure Louis does, too."So, what do you do for a living, Louis?" Harry asks, even though he already knows the answer. It seems like the right thing to ask, though. And it's not like he'd really mind hearing and watching Louis explain it again."I'm a drama teacher," Louis says. "I act, sometimes, but not too often.""Really?" Harry asks, seeming fascinated. Or, alright, he really was, even if he's heard it before. There was just something about how animated Louis was when he was talking about it and Harry was completely endeared by it. "That's sick." Louis grins at the compliments, reaching over and stealing one of Harry's chips as a thank you."What about you?" Louis asks. "You've got to do something interesting."Harry shrugs. "I like to think of myself as a struggling musician. You know, like the ones you see in the movies," He says, stirring his straw in his drink before taking a sip. "But besides that, waiting tables at a bar is pretty okay, too. M'in my last year of Uni.""Hm, a musician," Louis says, smiling. "I like that, a proper rock star, maybe. Do you play anything?" "Guitar a bit, yeah," Harry says. "I write songs, too." Louis's eyes light up at that, leaning forward and seeming even more interested then seconds before."So does that mean you can write a song about me?" He asks, genuinely interested.Harry nods, pushing his plate aside. "Definitely. With your blue eyes and everything, it'd be pretty easy," He says, giving a cheeky smile. Louis laughs, shaking his head and biting his lip. Harry couldn't believe how he had gotten to this point, sitting across from a very pretty boy and flirting with him as well. Not to mention he was flirting  _back_. He hadn't really been on a proper date like this since the last time Niall tried to set him up with one of his mates. The guy was completely obnoxious and Niall really only set him up with Harry so that he would have a chance with the guy's sister."Smooth one, you are," Louis says. "Are you done?" He asks, pointing to Harry's half eaten meal. Harry nods, finishing off his soda and waving over one of the waiters for the check. He pulls his wallet out of his pocket just as Louis does, shaking his head."I'm paying, Louis," He says, but Louis shakes his head."I can pay for myself, you really don't have to," The older boy argues, but Harry hands the waiter his card before Louis can do anything, causing him to sigh in defeat and put his wallet away. "Sneaky.""I try," Harry says, grinning. The waiter comes back minutes later with his card and Harry sends Louis a small victorious glance, to which Louis sticks out his tongue and flips him off playfully. "Want me to walk you home?" He asks, both him and Louis slipping out of the booth. A first-but-not-actually-the-first date gone well, Harry thinks. Hopefully well enough for another one, maybe.Louis smiles, nodding as they walk out of the diner and down the street towards Louis's flat. "What a gentleman you are, Harry," He says, his tone a bit playful and teasing. Harry rolls his eyes, bumping Louis's shoulder with his own. "Give me your phone." So, things had gone well as they had gone last time, from what Louis's about to probably do.Harry pulls his phone out of his pocket, unlocking it and handing it to Louis. Louis enters his number into it, pausing for a bit to take a picture and set it as the contact photo. He hands it back after that, grinning and shoving his hands in his pockets. "There, you've got my number now. No excuse for me to not see you again."Louis wants to see him again, there's a confirmation now. He hadn't fucked it up this time, thankfully. "Don't think I'd need one," Harry says. "I definitely want to see you again."They slow down as they get closer to Louis's flat, the both of them stop outside of the entrance and standing in front of each other. "So," Louis starts, biting his lips. Harry blinks, not sure what he was supposed to do or say here. He'd never really gotten this far on a date before with someone like Louis. Then again, there wasn't really anyone else like Louis, was there? What was he supposed to do now?Louis figures it out for him, apparently, standing on his toes, gripping the front of Harry's shirt and pressing his lips against the taller boy's. It takes Harry by surprise, but he eases into it quickly and grabs Louis's hips. Louis's lips feel soft against his, both of them moving in sync with each other. Louis pulls away after a minute, staring up at Harry and breathing heavy. "Come upstairs?" He asks and well, Harry can't say no.

* * *

 

  
The first time is shit.

 

It's not that Harry's a virgin, because he's slept with people plenty of times, it's just it's been a few months since he's  _actually_  slept with someone and Louis kind of makes him really nervous. He had trouble getting Louis's shirt off and then he had trouble getting his own jeans off and Louis couldn't stop laughing. So basically, it had been a disaster.He traveled back after that time. The second time going much better than before, he got Louis's shirt off right and his jeans off easier. Both of them were pleased after it, but Harry felt like he could do better than that. So, he excuses himself from the bed and hides in the bathroom, sending himself back and trying one more time.The last time his the best, honestly. He's much more assertive and aggressive this time, leaving the both of them out of breath, satisfied and exhausted.

 

* * *

 

  
They begin seeing each other regularly after that, making it official after a couple of weeks. A couple of weeks then turns into a couple of months, which then progresses into a full year. Harry eventually moves in with Louis, Zayn pretending to be devastated when he left, but Harry could tell he was finally happy to have in own place back.

 

After he graduated University, his music career had started picking up because of the open mic nights, getting him gigs here and there. It's moving slowly, but it's moving and that's all that matters. For now, he's still got that job at the bar and it works just fine for him and Louis."Harry, shit," Louis swears one morning, hurrying into their bedroom with a worried expression. Harry raises an eyebrow, waiting for an explanation as to why Louis seemed so tense. "So, my parents are coming to visit," He says, his voice still sounding distressed."Okay, when?" Harry asks calmly, still not sure why Louis seemed so frantic. Sure, he hadn't met Louis's parents before, but they had been together a little over a year so it was bound to happen at some point."Right now," Louis says. "As in, they're on their way--" He's cut off by the sound of the buzzer to enter the flat building. "Fuck, they're here." Harry's eyes widen, quickly glancing down and realizing he doesn't have any clothes on. "Get dressed!" Louis exclaims, grabbing a t-shirt off the floor and tossing it to Harry. The younger boy nods, pulling the t-shirt on over his head and searching for a pair of jeans. He finds a pair, quickly pulling them on as the buzzer sounds again. Louis stares at his jeans disapprovingly, but sighs and goes to let his parents up."Why didn't you give me a warning?" Harry asks when Louis presses the buzzer, running a hand through his hair and hoping it didn't look completely shitty. He hadn't really had any time to prepare, obviously. This wasn't the first impression he was hoping to make."They always say they're gonna visit, but they forget!" Louis exclaims, doing his best to fix Harry's hair. "Don't mention anything about sex. You say stupid things sometimes when you're nervous.""So not even oral sex?" Harry asks jokingly. Louis doesn't find it funny.He smacks Harry's arms, groaning when Harry's hair still looks as unruly as it did when he first woke up. They both give up on it just as there's a knock on the door. Louis makes a surprised sound, pressing a quick kiss to Harry's lips and going to open the door. Harry stands in the middle of the hallway, unsure if he should move or just kind of stand there until Louis's parents come in. He chooses the latter, or well, is forced to choose it when Louis opens the door and his parents enter."Mum, dad, this is Harry," Louis introduces. Harry smiles and waves, keeping his mouth shut in hopes that he won't say anything that he's not supposed to. Louis stands beside him, nudging his shoulder and gesturing for him to say something. There goes his plan to be silent the entire time."It's great to finally meet you," Harry says and so far, so good. "Louis's told me a lot.""We wish we could say the same," Louis's mum, Jay, Louis mentioned before, answers. "Louis here is very quiet about his relationship." Louis rolls his eyes, shaking his head."Well, we definitely don't have oral sex--" Harry stops himself, realizing what he's just said. He can hear Louis's breath hitch beside him, that's how silent it's gone. "I'll just be right back," He says, giving an apologetic smile and rushing into their bedroom. He hides in the closet, going through the same routine and thinking back to the morning of Louis's parents coming to visit.When he steps out, he's still as naked as he had been that morning, only wearing his boxers. He glances over at the alarm clock on the nightstand, seeing he had ten minutes before Louis was going to come in and tell him to get ready. He grabs a shirt from the closet, pulling it over his head. He pulls on a pair of jeans, better ones than he had last time, then stands in front of the mirror to do what he can with his hair. He ends up just tying a headscarf around it and honestly, he does look better than he had before.Louis rushes in a few minutes after, completely prepared to tell Harry to get dressed. Instead, though, he takes one glance at Harry and raises an eyebrow, but shakes his head and goes back to what he was originally going to say. "My parents are visiting. Today. Like, right now."Harry nods, walking up to Louis and putting his hands on the smaller boy's hips. "Alright. I'll make sure not to say anything stupid," He says, pressing a chaste kiss to Louis's lips and exiting their bedroom to the hallway. The buzzer sounds as soon as he enter and he quickly presses it, Louis letting out a breath of relief behind him and giving Harry a smile.Greeting with Harry and Louis's parent go much more smoothly than they had last time, Harry not mentioning anything about his and Louis's sex life. They have an easy conversation about Louis's childhood and other things until dinner is ready. It's then where Louis tells his parents that's he's in love with Harry, the older boy giving Harry a fond smile. Harry returns it with a quick kiss on the cheek and a grin. He overhears Louis's parents telling him that they approve of him as they leave.

 

* * *

 

  
The thing is, Harry's sort of abandoned his friends since he's met Louis. He didn't really think any of them would notice, but Liam shows up at his and Louis's flat one day demanding that they go to see a play together. Harry would normally refuse, but Liam seems quite persistent with this one, so he agrees anyways. That's how he ended up sitting in the most boring play for three hours with one of his best mates, wishing he would have just stayed home with Louis.

 

"Did you like it?" Liam asks when it's over, both boys standing up. Harry blinks a couple of times, trying to seem awake as he nodded."Yeah, yeah, great show," He mumbles, glancing around before he spots someone familiar across the way. He squints, trying to make out who it is, surprised when he sees it's Nick with a friend. He should go say hi, or something. It's always good to catch up with those that broke your heart, especially if it leads you to find your one true love. He should really thank Nick for rejecting him and causing him to be with Louis instead. It's probably one of the best things to happen in his life."Come with me," Harry says, walking in Nick's direction and not really paying attention to whether Liam was following him or not. He assumes he is. "Nick, hey! Strange seeing you here," He greets. Nick glances over to him, smiling when he sees it's Harry."Harry, haven't seen you in a while," Nick says. "This is Pixie." Harry assumes he means the blonde that he's got an arm wrapped around--shit, he's got an arm wrapped around a pretty blonde girl. 

"This makes so much sense," Harry says. "No really, it does! You're  _straight_!" He exclaims, feeling relieved, so Nick had just been trying to let him down easy, not wanting to make him feel stupid for assuming that Nick was gay. He still felt pretty stupid now, but at least he had been given enough time to get over everything.

"What?" Nick asks, seeming confused. "I'm not--We're not together. We're friends," He says. Harry furrows his eyebrows, re-thinking what he had just said and mentally scolding himself. All the time travel in the world and he still can't learn how to think before he speaks. It's a wonder how he's managed without it for twenty years.

"Right," He says, nodding slowly. "I'll be right back." He smiles weakly, turning around and searching for a bathroom. He finds one, going back to five minutes before the play was over, rushing out and sitting back next to Liam, who was too enthralled with the play to even acknowledge that Harry had left. 

The play ends just as it did before and both boys stand, Harry tapping Liam's shoulder and gesturing over to where Nick and his friend was. "I want to go say hi," He says, beginning in that direction without waiting for a response from Liam. Liam follows anyways. 

"Nick, hi, strange seeing you here!" Harry greets, much more confidently than before. "Who's your friend?" He asks, glancing over at Pixie.

"Oh, hey Harry. It's been a while," Nick says, smiling. "This is Pixie."

"Nice to meet you, Pixie," Harry says. "Might not want to have your arm around her, though. People might assume you're dating," He states jokingly, but Pixie seems offended.

"Do I not look like the type to have a boyfriend?" She asks and Harry can't seem to tell if she's joking or not. He lets out a nervous chuckle, but no one else seems to find it amusing, so he silently excuses himself and goes back to the bathroom he had gone to the first time he traveled back that night. Screw it all, he won't even go up to Nick next time. He'll just leave with Liam and head back home to Louis. There was really no point in talking to Nick, anyways. 

He gets back to his seat when the play finishes, clapping along with everyone else and plastering a fake smile when Liam looks at him. "Great show, really," Harry says, nodding enthusiastically before Liam can ask him if he liked it. He takes one glance over in Nick's direction and taps Liam's shoulder. "Hey look, it's the guy that broke my heart over a year ago," He says, pointing to where Nick was.

"Should we go say hi?" Liam asks, already heading in that direction, but Harry grabs the back of his shirt and walks to the exit. 

"No," He says in a flat tone. There's only a number of times he can fuck up before he finally gives up. He was at that point right now and he just wanted to leave before Nick spotted him.

"Harry?" Too late.

Harry turns around at the sound of Nick's voice, putting on a fake, bright smile and waving. "Nick, hey," He says, feigning enthusiasm and counting down the seconds to when he gets to go home. He really wasn't looking forward to tripping over his words again and making himself look like a complete wanker like he had done the past two times. He'd much rather only look like a wanker in front of Louis and his mates, thank you very much, not people that  broke his heart. 

"It's been a while, yeah?" Nick says. Harry nods, tapping his foot impatiently. "This is my mate, Pixie." Harry wants to say " _I know_ ", but he stays quiet instead, smiling softly at Pixie and looking back over at Nick. "Would love to stay and chat, but we've gotta go to dinner. Nice seeing you, Harry," Nick waves bye and turns around, walking with Pixie to wherever they were headed off to. Harry sighs in relief, glancing over at Liam and shaking his head. 

The two begin walking back in the direction they were originally headed and Harry takes his phone out of his pocket, checking for any messages from Louis. "Hey Harry?" He hears, turning around and seeing Nick jogging up to him and Liam. He gives Liam a quick look, then looks back at Nick with a raised eyebrow. He was so close to getting home to Louis.  _So close._ "Pixie has to go home, actually," He says. "Do you want to come to dinner with me?" 

This is the problem. If he goes, that means  _more_  time is spent not being at home, in bed with Louis and he kind of really doesn't want that. But then again, he'll feel bad for leaving Nick to go to dinner by himself, and yeah, maybe it would be a bit of fun to catch up with him. Maybe even brag about how amazing Louis is and how he's gotten over Nick. Well, not in those exact words, but it'll all be implied, of course. There's also the fact that Liam's with him, but Liam has a way to get home and won't really mind, so he doesn't think too much about that.

"Sure," Harry says, giving Liam an apologetic smile and joining Nick, shoving his phone back in his pocket with no new messages from Louis.

* * *

Dinner had gone fine with Nick, the two of them catching up on what they had been doing since they'd seen each other last. Harry might have talked about Louis the majority of the time, but he won't focus too much on that.

"Thanks for joining me tonight, Harry," Nick says as they're walking up to his flat. Harry shrugs, shoving his hands in his jacket pocket. 

"No problem, really. It was fun, getting to catch up," He says. Nick nods, stopping them both when they're in front of his flat and looking at Harry. "This is, then?"

"Yeah. Pretty nice flat, really," Nick starts. "Do you want to come in for a couple drinks?" So that's what he had been getting at tonight. 

Harry arches a brow, seeming amused at the entire situation. He had spent time and time pining after Nick that summer, and now that's he's actually fallen in love with someone that's fallen for him as well, Nick decides he wants to return Harry's  _old_  feelings. He's laughing on the inside. He'd laugh out loud, but then he'd have to explain why and he'd rather just avoid that, to be completely honest.

"Actually," Harry says, beginning to walk towards the exit. "I need to do something. Great seeing you, Nick." Harry smiles and waving, turning around and rushing out of Nick's flat complex and to the nearest tube station.

* * *

"Lou?" Harry whispers when he slips into their bedroom, toeing off his shoes and circling around the bed to Louis's side. The older boy was asleep, the bedside lamp still on. "Louis," Harry says again, shaking Louis gently.

"Hazza, m'tired," Louis mumbles, half asleep. Harry stares at him fondly, shaking him gently again. "Fuck off," He groans, smacking Harry's hand away and turning over. Harry sighs, shaking his head and going into the bathroom to travel back a little earlier. He had to do this tonight, he was determined. He doesn't care how many times he would have to travel back.

He opens the bathroom door once he's traveled, it being the exact time he had entered the flat. He glances around the bedroom first, eying his guitar in the corner and grinning. He grabs it, then goes back to Louis's side of the bed, where the boy is sleeping once again. 

Harry kneels down with his guitar, strumming lightly and watching as Louis's eyes fluttered open. "H, it's late," He mutters, his voice still groggy from lack of sleep. "I wanna sleep." 

"I know, love, but I want to ask you something first," Harry says, stopping the strumming and setting his guitar aside. He takes Louis's hand in his, taking a deep breath. Louis blinks a couple of times, trying to keep his eyes open as Harry begins to speak again. "Louis, meeting you was...the best day of my life, honestly," He chuckles, thinking back to the numerous times he's "first met" Louis and how he fucked up all but on of them. "I just felt so at ease around you, you know? Like we were meant to be together, like...it just kind of happened."

"That's very nice of you, Haz," Louis smiles. "Is there a reason why you woke me up for this?" 

Harry rolls his eyes playfully, gently squeezing Louis's hand. "Louis, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to wake up next to you everyday, cooking you breakfast each morning, start a family with you, all of that. I'm sure of it," He let's out a deep breath. "Louis Tomlinson. Will you marry me?" 

Louis furrows his eyebrows, pursing his lips and thinking over the question. He was still half asleep and not one hundred percent sure he had heard correctly. "Marry you?" He asks, clarifying. Harry nods nervously, biting his lip and waiting patiently for Louis's answer. "Yeah, I'd quite like to marry you." He says finally. Harry lets out a sigh of relief, pressing a kiss to Louis's forehead and grinning.

"I love you," He says. Louis smiles softly and shuts his eyes.

"Love you too. Now fuck off and let me sleep."

* * *

A few weeks later, Harry and Louis go to Cheshire to visit Harry's family and tell them about the engagement. Harry's certain that his family loves Louis more than they love him, but he doesn't really mind, seeing as he loves Louis more than anything else in the world, too. 

"Harry, Louis, missed you two," Anne says, pulling both Louis and Harry into a hug. "Should come 'round more. Gemma misses Lou." 

Harry rolls his eyes as he pulls away. "You'd think that Gemma was dating Louis," He says, giving Louis a subtle glance and looking back towards his mum. "Where is she, anyways?" 

"Upstairs," His mum tells him before dragging Louis off into the living room and leaving Harry to go find Gemma. This was typical, really. Since the first day he had brought Louis to go meet his family, they had adored him and considered him apart of it just like that. He had fit in so well, teasing Harry with Gemma and holding conversations with Harry's dad about ManU. Anne loved how much he loved kids, instantly wanting to know more about his job and the rest of his family. He had immediately gained her approval after mentioning that he had five younger sisters and a brother and had dreamt of having a big family himself. Harry had to admit he had fallen a little bit more after that, too. 

"Gems," Harry calls as he walks up the stairs. Gemma peeks out her bedroom door when Harry's at the top, smiling when she sees her younger brother. "What'd you do now?"

"Lost my job," She says simply, opening the door all the way and stepping out to grab Harry in a hug. "It's fine, though. Ash and I are still good." 

"Where is he, then?" Harry asks, pulling out of the hug and glancing around the empty hallway. He peers into Gemma's room, not spotting him in there either. "Let me guess, couldn't make it?" He sighs, shaking his head and beginning back downstairs. Gemma shrugs, following him down.

"Just busy, as usual," She excuses. "Is Louis here?"

Harry snorts. "With mum," He manages to say before Gemma's pushing past him on the stairs and running into the living room. He shakes his head, running after her, just in time to see her tackling Louis into a hug. Like he said, it was as if Gemma was dating Louis and not him. 

Louis laughs as he hugs Gemma back, the two pulling away shortly and sitting down on the sofa to catch up. Harry leans against the wall, watching fondly as Louis chatted with his family.

* * *

"Louis and I have something to announce," Harry says at dinner, standing up and holding his wine glass. He glances at Louis, who gives him a reassuring smile and nods. Harry clears his throat, focusing back on what he was prepared to say. "Louis and I, are getting married," He smiles as he says it and his family erupts into cheers and congratulations for the couple. Louis stands as well, raising his glass and grinning brightly at Harry.

"And we're hoping to do it soon," He adds. "Seeing as we've started looking for a surrogate," He says and looks fondly at Harry. Anne and Gemma begin gushing to Louis about having a baby when he sits back down, Harry's dad talking to him about how well he's done when he does the same. 

Him and Louis keep sneaking each other glances all throughout the rest of dinner, touching their feet under the table and giving small smiles. 

* * *

When they get back to London the next week, they begin planning their wedding, hoping to have it as soon as possible. Louis's been looking at things since they'd gotten engaged, him paying more attention to the wedding while Harry took on the surrogate responsibilities. Except Louis needed Harry's decision on certain things and the younger boy never gave his opinion.

"You haven't helped plan  _anything_ , Haz," Louis complains, standing in front of Harry, who was sitting on the bed with his laptop and checking his email. 

"That is a lie!" Harry defends, looking over his laptop and pointing an accusatory finger at Louis. Louis rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

"Deciding that you want me to walk down the isle with Ice Ice Baby playing is not a decision," He scoffs. Harry grins, shrugging.

"Seems like a pretty big decision to me," He says.

Louis flips him off. "Whatever. Anyways, I've decided that with every decision you make, I'll take off one article of clothing," He offers with a smirk. Harry raises an eyebrow, then shuts his laptop and sets it off to the side. "Good. So, where do you want to get married?"

Harry thinks about it for a minute, pursing his lips and leaning his head back on the headboard. "Cheshire," He says after a minute, looking directly at Louis. The older boy nods in agreement, unzipping his hoodie and shrugging it off. "It's not even fair that you had a hoodie on."

"Oi, who came up with this?" Louis asks and Harry quickly stops complaining. "That's what I thought. Now, where should our honeymoon be?" 

"France, definitely." Harry answers without hesitation. Louis grins, pulling his t-shirt over his head and crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm starting to like this game," Harry comments, smirking. 

"Of course you are," Louis mumbles. "Who's gonna be your best man?" He asks, messing with the hem of his sweats. Harry bites his lip, furrowing his eyebrows and thinking of who it could be. This was hard, though, because there's Niall who's been his best friend for  _years_  and the obvious choice would be him of course, but there was also Liam who was with him when he didn't know anyone else in London and would help him find gigs. Then there's Zayn who let him live with him and that in itself should give immediately give him the best man spot. But then there was his dad, and like, that was his  _dad_ , so really, it should be him. He'll just say someone for now and actually decide later.

"Liam," He says, then shakes his head after Louis's begun pulling his pants down. "No, Niall." Louis squeaks, pulling his sweats back up and narrowing his eyes at Harry.

"That doesn't count, cheater," Louis scolds. Harry pouts, throwing his head back and groaning.

"You're a tease," Harry mutters and Louis winks, turning around and walking into the bathroom. 

* * *

Their wedding day quickly arrives and it's a complete disaster. Louis does end up walking down the isle to Ice Ice Baby, much to Harry's amusement. Harry messes up a bit on his vows, but Louis gets the point and cries anyways (except if you were to ask him about it, he'd deny it in a heartbeat). 

It starts raining during the reception, which isn't the best considering it's held outside and the only thing protecting them from the rain is a huge tarp. It ends up getting too heavy from the rain, falling down and absolutely soaking everyone. Harry and Louis would be upset, but it's their wedding day and nothing can really ruin that for them right now. Everyone rushes back inside and the rest of the reception is held in there, Liam taking his place at the front of the room as best man. 

Harry grimaces as Liam gives an awkward speech, forcing a smile when Liam looks to him for support. He slips out when everyone's distracted, going back in time and choosing Zayn as his best man instead. It's not any better, seeing as Zayn starts making fun of Harry and telling rude comments about him. Harry sighs, shaking his head and leaving the room once again, going back in time and choosing Niall to be his best man. Niall's his best friend, anyways. how could he possibly screw up?

He spoke too soon, apparently, as Niall fucked up everything. Niall begins making sexual jokes and references, saying how he's gone and slept with each of the girls Harry's had a crush on in school and how Harry was awkward and un-charming when it came to dating. Harry widens his eyes as Niall makes his speech, simply standing up in the middle of it and leaving the room as swiftly as he can manage.

He ends up just choosing his dad as his best man and he should have done that in the first place, honestly. His dad explains how he's only ever loved three men, Harry, David Beckham and Elvis Presley. Harry doesn't cry. He just kind of tears up a little bit.

* * *

Months later, their surrogate gives birth to a beautiful baby girl, to which they name Darcy. Not too long after, they move into their own house and even though Harry says they can barely afford it, they're both happy and wouldn't change a thing. His music career starts doing better, landing more meeting with record companies and actually beginning to record in a proper studio. The months seem to go by in a rush and Harry barely ever needs to use his time travel for anything. Everything is simply falling into place as they go along and he likes it like that.

On the day of Darcy's first birthday, both Louis and Harry's families gather at their house for the celebration. The only one missing is Gemma and Harry's about to give her a call before there's a knock at the door.

"Can you get that, babe?" Louis asks, readjusting Darcy in his arms and dodging a tiny finger full of frosting going for his nose. Harry puts his phone in his pocket and nods. Louis gives him a quick peck on the cheek, then returns his attention to the birthday girl and bringing her into the living room with their family.

Harry goes to the door, opening it and expecting to see Gemma on the other side. Instead, though, it's Ashton, seeming worried. Harry raises an eyebrow, leaning against the door frame and crossing his arms. "Where's Gem?" He asks, looking outside for his sister and narrowing his eyes at Ashton when he doesn't see her.

"We got into a fight earlier," Ashton says, looking down. "She was drinking and I should've stopped her from leaving, but she grabbed the keys before I could and--" Harry shuts the door in his face, rushing into the living room and grabbing Louis's attention. Louis looks up at him, giving a confused glance before reading the expression on Harry's face and handing Darcy over to his mum. He stands, walking up to Harry and bringing them somewhere to where they were out of ear shot. 

"What's happened?" Louis asks, his tone worried. Harry sighs, running a hand through his hair. "You alright, H?" 

"I think Gemma's in the hospital," Harry says. "Ashton was here and started saying how she was drinking and she grabbed her keys. We need to go," His voice is strained. Louis nods, going back into the living room and explaining the situation to Jay. He chooses not to tell Anne for the time being, not wanting to worry here. Jay tells Louis to go on with Harry, that her and everyone else will make sure Darcy's birthday goes fine. Louis smiles weakly, thanking his mum before rushing out of the house with Harry and to the hospital.

* * *

They find out Gemma was in a car accident when they get there. She had been driving drunk and ran a stoplight, but luckily both her and the other person were completely fine. 

"I told you he wasn't good for you, Gemma," Harry tells her, leaning back in one of the hospital chairs. Louis places a hand on his shoulder, giving him a look that says "not now". Harry sighs. "Are you alright, Gem?" He asks, his voice calming down. 

Gemma blinks a couple of times before speaking. "I could be better. I could be not in a hospital," She says and Harry chuckles, because of course his sister is still making smart comments while she's in the hospital. 

"I'll be right back," Harry says, then stands up and searches for a bathroom. He finds one, slipping into it and locking the door. He shuts off the lights and closes his eyes, clenching his fists and thinking back to an hour before Ashton showed up. He finds himself back at home with Louis rushing around and making sure everything is in place for Darcy's party. "I have to go, babe. I'll be back in twenty," Harry says, blowing Louis a quick kiss and leaving before Louis can ask him anymore questions.

He shows up back at home thirty minutes later, Louis giving him a strange look when he shows up with Gemma. Harry sends him one back that says "I'll explain later" and Louis nods, greeting Gemma with a smile and taking Darcy into the living room where everyone else was. 

"Let's go talk, Gems," Harry says, leading her out to the backyard and taking a seat on the back porch with her. She raises an eyebrow at him, leaning back a bit and crossing her arms. "I don't think you should see Ashton, anymore."

"So that's what this is about," She mutters, shaking her head. "Ash and I are--"

"Fine, yeah, you always say that," Harry interrupts. "You're not fine. You've never been fine, Gemma. He's not good for you, at all." He stands up, holding his hand out for her. She stares at it for a few seconds, before letting out a breath and grabbing it, using it to help her stand up. Harry leads her back into the house, taking her upstairs and into his and Louis's bedroom closet. 

"We're in a closet," She says. "Harry, why are we in a closet."

Harry grabs her hands before answering. "Because," He starts. "I can time travel."

It's silent for a minute, until Gemma starts laughing. "Are you alright, Haz?" She asks, pulling her hand out of his and placing a hand against Harry's forehead. He swats it away, holding it tightly. 

"Just close your eyes, okay?" He tells her and she rolls her eyes, but does so anyways. Harry clears his throat, closing his eyes as well and thinking back to the day of the New Years Eve party. When they both open their eyes, they're dressed in the outfits they wore the night of the party. Gemma glances down, her eyes widening when she sees what she's wearing. She quickly opens the door, seeing that they're indeed at the New Years Eve party from over two years ago. 

They both step out and Gemma takes in her surroundings, then looks back at Harry with a dumbfounded expression. "We're--"

"Yeah," Harry says, grabbing her hand and leading her to where he remembers she had been with Ashton. She spots him when they get there, immediately going to talk to him, but Harry stops hers. "Just watch," He tells her. She gives him a confused look, but does as he says. 

They watch as Ashton glances around the room for a couple of seconds, then makes his way to a pretty blonde girl by the refreshment table. Gemma's face contorts from confusion into hurt, sighing and looking up at her brother. "I see. If it wasn't me, it would have been some other girl," She mumbles. Harry gives her a sad look, but she brushes it off and gives a fake smile. "Fuck him, then. But first," She turns back around, walking up to Ashton before Harry could stop her.

"Ashton," She says, tapping his shoulder. He turns around, seeming annoyed that he had been interrupted from chatting up a girl, but Gemma ignores it, smacking him straight across the face and giving a satisfied smile. Harry's eyes widen and he covers his mouth with his hand, trying to hold back his laughter as Gemma goes back to where he was. "Let's go back," She orders and Harry nods quickly, taking her back to the closet and sending them to the present time.

They're back in Louis and Harry's closet, in the same clothes they were wearing the day of Darcy's first birthday. Gemma glances up at him, her face showing confusion as she looks around the closet. "Why are we in the closet? I need to go see where Niall is," She says, stepping out o the closet and rushing downstairs to where everyone else was. Harry furrows his eyebrows after hearing her mention Niall, but shakes it off and goes downstairs as well, ready to join the party with everyone else.

"Alright then, where's the birthday princ-" He starts, but stops when he sees the decorations have been changed from the Princess ones they had bought to Pirate ones instead. Harry's eyes dart around the room, searching for Darcy and becoming confused when he only sees a baby boy in Louis's arms. 

His dad spots him first, seeing how confused he is and standing up to see what was wrong. "Harry, you alright?" He asks, pulling Harry into the living room. 

"She-Darcy's a boy." Harry says. "I traveled back to help Gemma, and now my daughter is a boy."

His dad sighs. "She was born in between the time traveling you did with Gemma. You altered the timeline, so now you have a son," He explains and Harry's face falls completely. He rushes back upstairs, undoing Gemma's timeline so that Darcy is still born. 

The only downside, unfortunately, is that Gemma still ends up in the car accident and both him and Louis are sat in the hospital, explaining to Gemma on why she needs to leave Ashton and keep her job.

"He's done nothing but mess up your life, Gem," Harry says, letting out an aggravated sigh. Louis doesn't say anything, but he looks at Gemma with sad eyes and that's enough for her to know that he agrees. Gemma looks down, but nods.

"Alright, yeah, I'll leave him," She says. Harry smiles softly, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"You'll find someone else, yeah?" He tells her, standing up and preparing to leave. "Niall has a crush on you, you know," He smirks. Gemma looks up at him and grins.

"Does he?' She asks. Harry nods, glancing quickly at Louis, who's smiling. "Good to know," She says before Harry gives her a kiss on the forehead and says goodbye. Louis does the same, telling her to get better soon and then leaving to go back home with Harry.

* * *

They get back home and Harry instantly goes to the living room, glad to see the princess decor and Darcy in the center of the room with cake all over her face. He smiles when he sees her, stepping into the room and picking her up, grabbing her hand and pretending to eat it. She giggles at him, using her other hand to playfully his his face a couple times. 

He puts her back down, saying hello to his and Louis's families and apologizing for being gone so long. He walks into the kitchen where Louis had disappeared to, coming up behind the smaller boy and wrapping his arms around him. He rests his head on Louis shoulder and presses a quick kiss to his cheek. 

"I want another one," Harry says in a hushed tone. Louis glance at him, placing his hands on Harry's and pursing his lips. 

"Do you think we can afford it right now?" Louis asks. Harry shrugs.

"My music career is picking up, yeah? And I can get another job, too," He points out and Louis grins. "C'mon Lou," He begs. 

Louis shakes his head. "Let's think about it first, yeah?" He says and Harry nods, giving him another kiss on the cheek before letting go of him and walking back into the living room where everyone else was.

They have a baby boy named Max a year later.

* * *

Harry's has the biggest meeting of his life at the moment. A big record exec has invited Harry for dinner to meet with him and talk about signing a contract with him for a record deal. They were having Gemma babysit for the night while him and Louis went out for dinner.

Louis had Harry holed up in their bedroom, going through all of his outfits and making Harry figure out which one looked best on him. Harry thought they all looked good on him, but Louis was worried about making a first impression on someone that could potentially be Harry's boss, so he just went with whatever Louis said and didn't put his own opinion. He had learned how Louis's personality was and when Louis wanted an opinion, it actually just meant that he wanted Harry to agree with him on everything.

"What about this?" Louis asks, exiting the bathroom in a white button up, black trousers and a pair of black suspenders. Harry sits up straight, nodding. "No, the braces are weird, why do I have braces?" He complains, un-clipping the suspender and throwing them aside. "No braces, then?"

Harry leans back in his seat and nods again, watching as Louis looked himself over in the mirror. "No, I don't like it," Louis says, rushing back to the closet and grabbing a different outfit. He goes into the bathroom and comes out a few minutes later, black jeggings on with a burgundy coloured sweater. "This?" It was the outfit he had tried on the first time. 

"Definitely," Harry says. Louis bites his lip as he judges himself in the mirror, then nods. "Yeah, I think this one. Where's Darcy and Max?" Louis asks, attempting to fix his fringe. "Don't tell me you left them in the room with your songs," Louis says slowly. Harry's eyes widen at the sudden realization, standing up quickly and running downstairs to his and Louis's office, letting out a string of swears when he sees papers littered around the room, all ripped up and coloured on.

Louis comes in right behind him, quickly grabbing Darcy and putting her in her playpen in the living room. He comes back minutes later, picking up the papers and looking up at Harry with an annoyed expression. "I told you not to leave her out of her playpen when we're not with her," He says, running a hand through his hair and picking up the rest of the papers.

"It's fine, um, I have them all in my notebook," He says, now trying to remember where he had left his brown notebook. They had thirty minutes until they had to leave and the smart thing to do would probably go back in time and make sure this didn't happen. "I'll be right back--" He starts, but Louis shakes his head.

"No, we need to find your notebook. It's somewhere in here, right?" Louis asks, cleaning the room and looking around for Harry's notebook. Harry sighs, nodding and helping Louis look for it. 

* * *

They find it five minutes before they're supposed to leave, right when Gemma arrives to babysit. It had been in one of the desk drawers, hiding under a stack of papers and folders. 

"Hi, sorry we're late," Harry says as soon as they arrive at dinner. Louis gives a small smile when he greets the exec, Will, and his wife. "Had a bit of trouble with the kids." This gets a laugh from Will and his wife. 

"I see. It's fine, Harry," Will says. 

They ordered a few minutes after Louis and Harry arrive, then go straight into talk about a contract. Harry shows him the songs he has written in his journal, explaining why he had written then and how he had gotten the inspiration for them. He spares Louis a couple of glances for some of them and the older boy just smiles, continuing his conversation with Will's wife about their kids. 

"Well Harry, come by my office next Friday and I'll have a contract ready for you to sign," Will says at the end of dinner. Harry almost chokes on his water, but keeps himself composed and nods. 

"Yeah, that's great. Thank you so much," Harry says, standing up with Louis. "I'll definitely be there next Friday. It was lovely meeting the both of you," He tells them, shaking Will's hand and smiling at his wife. Louis does the same and they all say their goodbyes before going their separate way.

Louis and Harry wait until they're in the car to make a big deal out of it, spending at least five minutes in the car making out with their hands all over the other. If they make it home ten minutes late, then so be it.

* * *

He doesn't use his time travel much after that. Only if it's simple mistakes, like waking up too late, or a small argument with Louis that could've easily been avoided. But even then, he'd rather just live life in the now instead of always going back to change things. He had come to dependent on time travel, he thinks, and he couldn't live life like that.

A year after the meeting and signing the contract, he begins writing and recording an album. He doesn't become proper famous, with red carpet events and stuff like that right away, but he's doing well enough and that's good enough for him and Louis.

They have a third child not too long after he puts out his first album, another girl named Sydney. Louis says it's an insurance baby, just in case one is too smart. That way, neither of them feel left out or anything like that. 

He goes on a small tour around the UK, nothing that big, really. Louis goes to whichever shows he can with Darcy, leaving the youngest two at home with Niall and Gemma, who have a daughter of their own. They had gotten married around the time Louis and Harry had their third child, have one of their own only months later. 

It's then that Harry realizes, he's in love with Louis and Louis's in love with him. He has three beautiful children with the love of his life and he's got the career of his dreams. So he stops traveling altogether once he figures that out. He's done what he had originally wanted to do with it. He found love.

**Author's Note:**

> im on [tumblr!!!!](pointstohome.tumblr.com)


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